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CAALAS Submissions on the Care and Protection of Children

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CAALAS Submissions on the Care and Protection of Children Draft (1): 26 July 2017 CAALAS Submissions on the Care and Protection of Children to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT July 2017 CONTENTS TOPIC PAGE Introduction and Scope of the Submission ........................................................................ 1 1. Child Protection Systems ....................................................................................... 9 (a) The function and purpose of a child protection system ............................... 9 (b) Modern developments in approaches to child protection .......................... 13 (c) The nature and scope of child protection issues in the NT, the over- representation of Aboriginal children and young people in care, and specific factors in the NT affecting the child protection system ................ 13 (d) The appropriateness of current approaches to child protection in the NT ............................................................................................................. 17 2. The NT Child Protection System ........................................................................... 20 (a) Child Protection policy and services .......................................................... 20 (b) Structure, management and decision making ........................................... 20 (c) Funding and operations ............................................................................ 20 (d) Staffing and workforce issues ................................................................... 21 (e) Notification issues .................................................................................... 24 (f) Intake processes ...................................................................................... 24 (g) Investigation processes ............................................................................ 25 3. Early Intervention ................................................................................................ 27 (a) The link between early intervention and child protection ......................... 27 (b) Models or approaches for effective early intervention .............................. 29 (c) The appropriateness and shortcomings of approaches to early intervention in the NT, particularly for Aboriginal communities ................ 29 (d) Gaps in current approaches to early intervention, including the design and delivery of services ................................................................. 30 (e) The extent and value of the early Intervention programs available in the NT ....................................................................................................... 32 (f) Funding and funding sources for early intervention programs, including Commonwealth Government, NT Government, and other sources ..................................................................................................... 32 (g) The delivery, availability, oversight and evaluation of early intervention programs .............................................................................. 32 4. Out of Home Care ................................................................................................. 33 5. Re-unification and leaving care ............................................................................ 42 (a) Reunification with Families ....................................................................... 42 (b) Leaving care ............................................................................................. 53 6. The Legal Process ................................................................................................ 55 (a) Issues with respect to the current legislation ........................................... 55 (b) Issues in relation to current legal processes, including mediation............ 56 (c) The selection and use of specific orders ................................................... 58 (d) Delay in the legal process ......................................................................... 59 (e) Legal representation for children and families .......................................... 59 (f) The role of Territory Families .................................................................... 60 (g) The availability of expert reports .............................................................. 60 7. Cross-over issues ................................................................................................. 62 8. Aboriginal Community Issues .............................................................................. 64 9. Reform Options .................................................................................................... 67 “Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future. These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.”1 - Uluru Statement From the Heart, May 2017 Introduction and Scope of the Submission The Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service Ltd (CAALAS) prepared this submission in response to an invitation from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (the Commission). This submission is specific to the care and protection aspect of the Commission's inquiry, and addresses a number of different areas as set out by the Commission. Prior to submitting this care and protection submission, CAALAS has provided submissions on the topics of youth detention, and pre and post detention. CAALAS prepared this care and protection submission with limited resources and in a short timeframe, whilst also progressing and finalising other aspects of our engagement with the Royal Commission. We have not responded to every topic identified in the call for submissions, due to capacity.2 Some of the topics identified were vast, and could have been explored in greater detail had time and resources permitted. Notwithstanding this, we hope that the submissions provided are of assistance to the Commission. CAALAS' submissions are guided by the experiences of our clients, and the frontline staff who have assisted them in navigating the care and protection system. CAALAS undertakes legal casework representing parents and family members in care and protection matters. Part of this work involves providing a duty lawyer service on a Wednesday at the Alice Springs Local Court where the care and protection list is heard. In addition to acting for family members who are parties to care and protection proceedings, many of CAALAS' young criminal law clients are also in the care of the Department. Accordingly, our experience and observations concerning the care and protection system are informed by our contact with both affected family members and children who are themselves the subject of orders. During the ten year scope of the Commission's terms of reference, there have been various changes to the name of the Northern Territory Government (NTG) department responsible for the care and protection of children. Such titles include the Office of Children and Families, the Department of Children and Families, and the current Territory Families (TF). In our submission we have sought to use the current terminology of TF when referring to the department with responsibility for the care and protection of children, understanding that the observations or concerns being described may have been associated with one of TF's previous incarnations. In our submissions CAALAS has endeavoured to avoid duplication of content, however we note that some reforms are relevant across a range of areas. Given the breadth of care and protection topics identified by the Commission and the tendency of topics to interconnect, there is overlap between recommendations in some instances. 1 Uluru Statement from the Heart, May 2017, accessed at https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017- 05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF 2 Please note that as CAALAS has not had capacity to respond to every topic listed by the RCPDCNT in the care and protection submissions issues paper, the numerical order of topics in our CAALAS submission differs from the numbering of topics in the RCPDCNT issues paper. In our submission headings, we have used wording that is consistent with that from the RCPDCNT issues paper so that there is clarity as to which section of the issues paper each given topic relates to. 1 About CAALAS Founded in 1973 as the first Aboriginal organisation in Alice Springs, CAALAS provides high quality, culturally appropriate legal advice and representation to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people living in Central Australia and the Barkly in the areas of criminal, civil, family and welfare rights law. CAALAS' area of service delivery is vast, encompassing the southern region of the Northern Territory and reaching as far north as Elliott. The organisation also advocates for the rights of Aboriginal people and improved social justice outcomes, and provides community legal education. CAALAS employs 9 Aboriginal Liaison Support Officers (ALSOs), two of whom currently speak local languages. ALSOs provide cultural brokerage with the knowledge of the local and remote communities, family groups and language. Separate to our legal casework,
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